A few months after a baby is born, parents are eager to take their babies on their first vacation, even if it means taking a plane to their destination. It is every family’s dream to enjoy a good trip with their beloved little ones who make their lives happy and complete. However, traveling by air can be a hassle while going through the process at the terminal. Although they are still young, babies can feel the stress in an airport terminal environment.Such an incident happened to a mother in March 2019. She was aboard a Saudia airplane when she realized she had left her baby at the airport!
Online news website “Independent” reported that Saudi Arabian Airlines flight SV832 was bound for Kuala Lumpur from Jeddah. Shortly after the plane’s take off, the airline’s captain contacted the airport’s tower back in Jeddah, requesting for the plane to return due to an urgent situation.
As soon as the news reached the passengers, most of them were puzzled and assumed it was a plane malfunction. Later, they discovered that a mother had left her baby at the airport terminal. Most of them were so frightened for the baby that they begged the captain to return to the airport. In the video of the conversation between the plane’s captain and the tower, you will hear the captain asking, “May God be with us. Can we come back or what?”
An ATC can also be heard saying, “This flight is requesting to come back… a passenger forgot her baby in the waiting area, the poor thing!” However, the pilot was told to repeat his request to return to the airport of origin. He replied, “We told you. A passenger left her baby in the terminal and refuses to continue the flight.”
Fortunate for the captain’s alert handling of the call, the tower finally gave the “Go” signal for the plane to return. “Ok, head back to the gate,” said the ATC. “This is totally a new one for us!” No further report was released on how the mother managed to forget her baby at the terminal. The video of the conversation has gone viral on social media and shared on various platforms. Netizens praised the plane captain for his calm but urgent handling method of the emergency incident. Soon, the mother was reunited with her baby.
▼ Here is the video conversation between the plane’s captain and the ATC:
However, netizens were quick to bash the mother, calling her an “idiot” and “irresponsible”. The mother, Molly Lensing, instantly defended her actions. “Anastasia had been held or in her carrier for many hours,” Molly said. “My arms were tired. She needed to stretch. And I had to communicate with all the family members wondering where the heck we were.”
Fortunately, with the help of the captain and the tower staff, the baby was reunited with her mother. ❤️
Images credits: © Independent UK, The Daily Tribune – News of Bahrain, and Pinterest
Video credits: © Middle East Eye @MiddleEastEye/YouTube shorts